To start this season, there is a definite separation between those two clubs, as the Cowboys' injury and offensive-line woes keep them squarely in the middle of the pack. The Giants, meanwhile, continue to hold down the top spot.

Hey, it's good to see Austin Collie's brother sticking his neck out there. In fact, feel free to voice your thoughts on our NFL rankings @Harrison_NFL. I'll try to answer all comers. Your brother doesn't have to be Miles Austin, either.

In the meantime, keep in mind that while the middle weeks of the preseason helped shape these rankings, those games still took place in the preseason. To quote Allen Iverson, we're talkin' 'bout preseason, man. Or something like that.

The Cedric Benson signing made sense. Remember when I suggested the
Packers at least look at a veteran running back in free agency last offseason? Everyone tossed a big bag of turds at me while screaming
"Ted Thompson would never do that!" The
Desmond Bishop injury is still worrisome, as he often locked up opposing tight ends. On the outside, let's hope cornerback
Tramon Williams brings it this season.

RANK

3

49ERS

Seeing
Peyton Manning pick apart this defense was alarming, but we'll hang our hats on the unit's 18-game body of work from last season. Most people in the NFL bidness feel like the quarterback holds this club back.
Alex Smith posted typically conservative numbers in the preseason (13-for-19, two TD, no INT), but we need to see more big-play capability from a team that went 1-for-13 on third downs in the NFC Championship Game.

RANK

4

TEXANS

1

After a very strong showing on defense last year (
ranking second overall) and
a good preseason opener versus the
Carolina Panthers,
Wade Phillips' unit experienced some struggles -- relatively speaking, of course. But the quality play of
Matt Schaub more than made up for it. Schaub looks to be in midseason form after suffering a season-ending injury in Week 10 last season. The
Texans aren't perfect, but they can beat any team in the AFC, including No. 5 ...

RANK

5

PATRIOTS

3

If you desire a non-Brady reason to explain how the Pats made it to
Super Bowl XLVI, look no further than an opportunistic defense/special teams that led the AFC in takeaways with 34. In the preseason, though, New England caused just three turnovers and was the only team in the NFL without a fumble recovery.
Bill Belichick's club also managed to score just three points in the first quarter with the starters out on the field. Then again, everyone freaked out when this team went 1-3 in the 2004 preseason, losing 31-3 to the
Cincinnati Bengals and 31-0 to the
Jacksonville Jaguars. And ...

... Belichick won his third ring in four years that season. Just sayin'.

The lack of a pass rush is disconcerting. That they collected just six sacks over the preseason is either just another misleading signpost among many in August football or an ominous sign for a team that sorely needs
Terrell Suggs. Fourteen sacks is difficult to replace. Difficult to stomach: The fact the
Ravens were outscored, 58-29, in the first half of preseason games. Can't say those were all backups in there ...

RANK

9

FALCONS

3

Hard to believe the
Falcons are this high on the list. But the defensive line looks better, and both the
Broncos and
Steelers (10th and 11th on our rankings) would have trouble stopping this passing game. Ditto the
Lions at 13. A typical
Matt Ryan stat line in 2012 should look like this: 30-for-46 passing for 369 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

RANK

10

BRONCOS

For the
Denver Broncos, it's all about defense. How will the interior fare, from defensive tackle all the way back to the safeties? The
Broncos have some depth, but not necessarily playmakers.
Peyton Manning, for all his greatness, can't hide
every deficiency. No change in the rankings here.

RANK

11

STEELERS

2

Getting
Mike Wallace back was large. The defense forced turnovers during the preseason, something
Dick LeBeau's crew couldn't do to save its life in 2011. The offensive line and linebacker depth remain question marks, but here's a prediction: The running game will be no less effective without
Rashard Mendenhall. A committee should work just fine on this team.

Don't get caught up in the poor defensive stats that came from the
Lions' preseason. Detroit's starting defensive unit played very well in spots, making most of the starting offensive units it faced look pedestrian. Much of the statistical damage came against guys who are now riding benches, inhabiting practice squads and working at Medieval Times.

Philip Rivers' four preseason interceptions (to go with 20 last year) and
Ryan Mathews' current place on the shelf leave this team in the 18-hole for now. The club added a lot of depth in the offseason, and is at least better defensively than Denver. That
Melvin Ingram can play. Adding to the good-news portion of this blurb is the fact that the
Chargers open up in Oakland, where Rivers has flourished over the last two seasons.

RANK

19

TEBOW

Rob Moore, if you're out there, call the
Jets. They need you. As long as you can run a sub-5.0 40-yard dash, they still need you. New York is the first team in 35 years to fail to score a touchdown in its first three preseason games.

RANK

20

BILLS

2

Direct text message quote from a colleague at another network: "PREDICTION: Buffalo comes into Week 11 PRIMETIME ON NFL NETWORK versus Miami with five wins, beats the
Dolphins 43-9, goes 5-1 to finish and get the wild card with 11 wins."*

Yes, he used all-caps. You heard it here first.

*He's also from Rochester ...

RANK

21

TITANS

3

The two most important players on the
Titans were inconsistent, to say the least, in the preseason.
Jake Locker has accuracy concerns and stalled out a few times in the red zone.
Mike Munchak has expressed faith in
Chris Johnson, despite his 2.9 yards per carry in August. One wonders if the offensive line has inspired that same confidence.

RANK

22

RAIDERS

2

Raiders fans have to be a little worried about the passing game. The jury is still out on
Denarius Moore and
Darrius Heyward-Bey, although DHB collected nearly 1,000 yards last season. Moreover,
Carson Palmer threw four picks in the preseason to add to the 16 he tossed in just over half a season in 2011. He led the
Raiders to one score in 17 preseason possessions. Ouch.

RANK

23

PANTHERS

Our NFL analysts
are pretty optimistic about the
Panthers this season. Only one of my colleagues had Carolina finishing under .500, but the defensive line is really going to have to step it up. Notably, 2011 third-round pick
Terrell McClain was released the other day. Having a top-70 pick cut after one season does not exactly merit a gold star for the scouting department.

If Tampa Bay is going to do anything this year, it's not going to be dependent on
Josh Freeman,
Vincent Jackson or even
Doug Martin. The defensive front seven has to play better, starting with stopping the run. That group gave up the most runs of 10-plus yards in the NFL last season with 79. Just for comparison's sake: The
Raiders finished next-to-last in this category with 69. The
49ers? 27.

RANK

26

JAGUARS

3

So
Maurice Jones-Drew said in a press conference that he picked himself first overall in his fantasy draft. Cool. I hope he also grabbed
Rashad Jennings in one of the later rounds to start.

RANK

27

VIKINGS

4

Whether
Adrian Peterson plays effectively or not, there are too many question marks on offense to trust the
Vikings to finish any better than 5-11. Still, with Jacksonville and Indianapolis on the schedule to open the season, Minnesota could start 2-0. The
Vikings move up in the rankings due to the struggles of some other teams (we won't mention Arizona here).

RANK

28

COLTS

4

These rankings were given much grief by readers on Facebook and Twitter the last time out, due to the placement of the
Colts below the
Rams. I've come around.
Andrew Luck looked fantastic in the preseason. The key might not be the
Colts' quarterback, but rather how much pressure
Chuck Pagano's group can put on the
other team's passer. The secondary in Indy is a sore spot, although acquiring
Vontae Davis should help.

RANK

29

BROWNS

1

Brandon Weeden makes some nice throws. Then he looks overwhelmed. Then he's underwhelming. Then he drops the football on the carpet. Then you realize he's a rookie. Then you realize he's been playing with
Montario Hardesty and
Brandon Jackson in the backfield. Then you think he might be a really good rookie.
Trent Richardson, be special. Please.

RANK

30

RAMS

2

Simply put, the
Rams' defense looks like it's going to struggle again, even with all the young talent in
Michael Brockers,
Janoris Jenkins and rookie free-agent CB
Quinton Pointer. Brockers is hurt, Jenkins still needs time to develop and the club is just not
there yet. Lackluster tackling and poor overall play in the most important game of the
Rams' preseason (
at Dallas) put them at 30.

RANK

31

CARDINALS

7

Will the
Cardinals finish this low? Probably not. Do they stink right now? Yes. The quarterback debacle has been well documented, but no one could have predicted how poorly offensive line coach Russ Grimm's unit played over the past month. Here are more not-fun facts: the
Cardinals were outscored 36-10 in the first quarter and gave up 21 sacks this preseason.